2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic ring mounting method and apparatus, using a separating and supplying device.
2. Related Background Art
Conventional separating and supplying devices for an elastic ring mounting apparatus are divided into the following two groups (1) and (2):
(1) A lowermost C-ring is separated from a bottom of a stocker in which a plurality of C-rings are arranged and stacked by means of a protruding plate slidably guided by a guide under the driving of a cylinder, and after two pins of an opening/closing pawl are inserted into two corresponding holes in said separated C-ring, a diameter of the C-ring is reduced by closing the opening/closing pawls, thus picking up the C-ring (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 60-197324, right column of page 1); and
(2) A lowermost C-ring is separated from a bottom of a stocker in which a plurality of C-rings are arranged with respect to same direction and stacked, by means of a protruding plate slidably guided by a guide under the driving of a cylinder, and a diameter of the C-ring is reduced by sliding said separated C-ring along a tapered portion by means of a conveying cylinder (charging cylinder), thus picking up the C-ring (see the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-197324, right lower column of page 2 -- left upper column of page 3).
In the above conventional separating and supplying device for the C-ring mounting apparatus of the above type (1), since the C-ring is not fixedly supported, when the two pins are inserted into the two holes of the C-ring, the C-ring would be out of position, thus making it difficult to insert the pins into the holes.
On the other hand, in the above-conventional separating and supplying device for the C-ring mounting apparatus of the above type (2), since the C-ring is slid along the tapered portion to reduce the diameter thereof, it is required to use the large-sized conveying cylinder (charging cylinder), thus making the whole apparatus bulky.